July 10, 1997
Contact: Carmen Ramos Chandler,
(818) 677-2130
cchandler@exec.csun.edu
The new building will replace the university's old Fine Arts Building, which was severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The old building was designed by the well-known modernist architect Richard Neutra.
Philip Handler, dean of the College of Arts, Media and Communication, said he was pleased with Stern's selection.
"Mr. Stern has an uncanny ability to capture the spirit or essence of a place and transfer it into an edifice that exemplifies all that is unique to that environment," Handler said. "We are delighted that Mr. Stern is joining us in crafting a vision for this college for the 21st Century."
The new Arts, Media and Communication Building is expected to cost approximately $18 million, with most of the money coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The old Fine Arts Building was one of the few facilities designed by Neutra on a state campus in the early 1960s. The 1994 earthquake nearly destroyed the facility. It was deemed by engineers and FEMA and university officials as irreparable.
The new building will house the departments of art, journalism, and radio-television-film, and include a 125-seat screening facility. It will serve as the centerpiece of College of Arts, Media and Communication.
Stern, who is based in New York, is perhaps best known in the Los Angeles area for his design of the Feature Animation Building at Disney Studios in Burbank. The building's distinctive cone-shaped tower, painted with a moon and stars reminiscent of Mickey Mouse's hat in his role as the Sorcerer's Apprentice in the animation classic "Fantasia," can be seen from the Ventura (134) Freeway.
Stern has also designed the Fine Arts Studio at the University of California, Irvine and the Gates Computer Science Building at Stanford University.
He will be joined on this project by the Los Anegles-based architectural and engineering firm of Fields Devereaux. Fields Devereaux's work includes the Fine Arts Facility at the University of California, Riverside and the Performing Arts Center in the Baldwin Park Unified School District.
A total of 36 architectural firms submitted proposals for the new AMC Building earlier this year. Eight were interviewed.
"I could not have been more pleased with the caliber of the architects and architectural firms that submitted proposals for the new building," Handler said. "All the firms submitted marvelous ideas and plans for what will prove to be an exceptional project."
Campus architect Deborah Wylie said Stern was selected by a committee of faculty and administrators "because of his ability to perceive and work within the existing context of the campus, and his foresight and knowledge of the new classroom paradigm."
Wylie said Stern will take into account the college's needs for today and in the future, while at the same time respecting the uniqueness of Cal State Northridge and the San Fernando Valley.
"It was important that he understood the cultural context and climate of the Valley," she said.
Wylie said she hopes to complete contract negotiations with Stern by early August.
California State University Chancellor's Office Press Releases
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